Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Tribes of the East

What we have here with Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Tribes of the East is an expansion for Might and Magic V. This was actually the second expansion and it was released all the way back in 2007. What I liked about Tribes of the East was that it actually felt like a substantial update to the game which was something I felt the previous expansion, Hammers of Fate.

Three Become One

The story of Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Tribes of the East is pretty awesome, but to get the most out of it you do have to have played through Hammers of Fate as it is a direct continuation. The story is split into three campaigns all of which are tied together by a single-story thread.

For a game that is over a decade old, the storytelling here is pretty great. The campaigns are focused around three factions. Necropolis, Academy and the brand-new faction that was added to this expansion, Stronghold.

Win The War In Style

In case you did not know, Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Tribes of the East is a turn-based tactics game and a damn fine one at that. You need to get new people into your faction and then go about strategizing what the best way to win each battle is. What this expansion has done is tidy up the UI a bit which makes getting certain spells, units and so on that little bit quicker which has a far greater positive impact on gameplay than you would think.

When you take a creature into your ranks, you can decide what kind of upgrades to deck them out with which I like. Overall, they have made many positive changes to the game and fixed the annoying bugs that the first expansion had. It all adds up to make this a much more enjoyable experience.

Where Are My Friends?

Ok, so as far as I know there is no “official” way to actually play this game online anymore which really does suck. I know there are workarounds, but the official servers being closed kind of does suck, especially when you consider that they still sell this game on Steam for pretty much full price!

The map editor and way you can have fun with that is kind of pointless without being able to share them if you ask me. Still, this is a part of the game that I have had fun with and if you have friends around you can play the edited maps that way.

If you are a fan of the Might and Magic series then you will really like Heroes of Might and Magic 5: Tribes of the East. In many ways, if you ask me this is what the first expansion should have been. It is great to see that they listened to the fans and improved the things that people had problems with.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Pros:

• I like how there are three campaigns
• The storytelling is very well done
• Some very clever and imaginative creature designs
• The gameplay is strategic, but also a lot of fun
• I like the new Stronghold faction they added

Cons:

• No official way to play online
• They really should have made this the first expansion!

Tote doesn't really add anything spectacular to the Heroes of Might and Magic V experience other than an acronym that reminds me of bags and the option of playing through a storyline with orcs, beasties and the types of creatures you're usually fighting against in these sorts of things.

Don't get me wrong, I love HOMM (all numerals), but this is a review of a standalone expansion pack for the fifth and is thus being judged on what it brings to the party. So while the base game remains the same - the undercurrent of fun and addictive tactical play is still ever present - that can't be chalked up to anything TOTE itself offers. The much trumpeted 'orc-play' merely adds a blood rage factor to the mix that acts as a sort of extra shield for your orc army from time to time, but it's not a deal-breaker and the fact is this is an expansion in purely the most literal terms.

Hardened addicts who live online in multiplayer matches will no doubt be eager to snap up the new abilities, heroes and creatures to further pwn the nOObs, but for the rest of us sane mortals, all it does is provide a new bunch of maps and a new selection of graphics to play with. It does nothing to expand upon the base game and therefore make itself worthy of notice, except for those of you with a burning desire to see how a sub-par fantasy story turns out who can't be bothered to look it up on Wikipedia.